Smith scores three as SA maul Malaysia

Superb South Africa men’s hockey team captain Austin Smith netted a hat-trick of penalty corners for the lads in green and gold to win a gripping second Test 3-1 in Potchefstroom on Saturday.

Smith was the heart of his team’s hard-fought win as he worked tirelessly from an unusually deep position to inspire his team to an unbeatable 2-0 lead in this four-Test series, this after South Africa had won the thrilling first Test 2-1 on Thursday evening.

The third Test takes place on Sunday in Potchefstroom with the fourth Test in Randburg on Tuesday.

Smith’s first goal came in the 34th minute ÔÇô a minute before half-time ÔÇô for SA to draw level 1-1 at the changeover, this after Malaysia’s Faizal Saari had opened the scoring with a potent PC drag-flick in the 15th minute.

Smith’s second and third PC strikes came in the 54th and 70th minutes, the latter on full-time.

The PCs were shared 5-5 in a match that could have gone either way, but SA made their chances count. Indeed, SA had six PC’s in the first Test without success and turned that disappointing statistic around with a 60% strike rate in the second encounter ÔÇô an outstanding return.

SA went into the match without number one goalkeeper Rassie Pieterse (rested); vice-captain Rhett Halkett and fellow defender Ashlin Freddy ÔÇô both missing their second consecutive Test matches due to injury; Tim Drummond (injured); while one of the first Test’s standout players, Clinton Panther (university exam) was replaced by his older brother, Brandon Panther, a new cap.

Another Test debutant was striker Matt Botha while Taylor Dart won his second cap after coming into the first Test team just before the warm-up after medical advice had forced the last-minute withdrawal of Freddy.

The Malaysia line-up remained much the same.

For Malaysia, Nabil Fiqri, Faiz Helmi and┬á the irrepressible Saari were thorns in the side of the SA defenders at various stages of the match and it must be said that the final scoreline was somewhat flattering. Smith admitted as much after the match while Malaysia head coach Paul Revington said the difference was that SA took their chances.

There was much ÔÇ£chatÔÇØ between the teams and player after player was banished to the sin-bin after a slew of heavy tackles, body checks and sundry other misdemeanours ÔÇô SA were down to nine men at one stage.

All the SA players stood out in this match at one stage or another, and the victory was a triumph of true grit in the face of a highly motivated opponent.